COSY THEATRE

Wairarapa Times-Age, 26 June 1940, Page 2

COSY THEATRE

“STRANDED IN PARIS.” Tonight’s programme will include “Stranded in Paris,” starring Jack Benny, Joan Bennett, Mary Boland, Charlie Grapewin and the Yacht Club Boys. It is comedy that is hilarious — action and fun that everybody can enjoy. It is racy, breezy, and goes with a swing throughout. Those who enjoy a good laugh will appreciate "Stranded in Paris.” In “Stranded in Paris” Benny is the manager of a theatrical troupe which becomes stranded in Paris. Without money and unable to talk French the company, comprised mostly of pretty girls, experiences a torrid time, when Benny meets Joan Bennett, the fourth richest girl in the world, in a cafe. She happens to have left home without money, and to pay for her meal, appeals to Benny, who is dressed as a cowboy. Benny is sorry to see such a pretty girl “going that way” and offers her a job with his company. What happens before the company is deported to America is considerable.

Had it not been for the “discovery” of Dorothy Lamour, it is likely that “Jungle Princess,” the other feature, a story of love in the heart of the Malayan jungle, would never have been produced. Paramount had this story for many months, but would not put it into production until they found a girl to play the title role. The girl had to be beautiful, she had to have long, beautiful hair, and she had to have all the mysterious and elusive charm of a primitive jungle dweller. She also had to have enough courage to go through her paces in the company of a fierce man-eating tiger and a giant chimpanzee, botli of whom were to be her only companions in her jungle home. Hollywood is full of long-haired beauties, “panther women,” and courageous girls ’who have no qualms about being hugged in the vice-like grip of a chimpanzee, or to make a pet of a man-eater. But to find a girl -who could fit all the requirements of a “Jungle Princess” was no mean job. And then came Miss Lamour. One day a radio magazine published her portrait. Paramount executives saw it and called her to the studios for a screen test. The rest was easy. Ray Milland is cast as the explorer who gets lost in the jungle and falls in love with the “Jungle Princess.” Molly Lamont is the girl Milland left behind him.